Caz Fortel is a great liar. In fact, he’s a professional.

It’s his job to lie to people who steal works of art, and to get the goods back. But when Caz gets the big call from the FBI—a million bucks to recover a stolen statue of significant cultural value—it comes with a downside. His assigned partner has more of an interest in Jesus than Caz is comfortable with. Oh, and he’s an alien with four arms and a tremendous sense of smell.

When aliens showed up fifteen years ago, Earth cut a deal to join the Panstellar Consociation as a protectorate, allowing their new neighbors to set up a warp tunnel in orbit, in exchange for advanced tech secrets. Now Caz is caught up in the retrieval of their missing statue, and they want the mission kept quiet.

Or Earth could be in very, very big trouble.

Steve Rzasa’s For Us Humans takes on big theological dilemmas while wrestling with an alien art heist. Unlike some sci-fi authors who attempt creating new alien races, Rzasa’s alien race feels inventive. Occasionally the snarky, smart-aleck antagonism between the main cop duo feels childish. However, once the action ramps up about halfway through the novel, this adventure morphs into a complex fusion of intergalactic conspiracy, prejudice erasure, redemption narrative, and call to personal revival. The story wraps with space battles and a surprise family reunion, and its theme of divine intent in all things is carried to its full conclusion.

Best for: Fans of sci-fi who like nerdy references and wisecracks mixed with light exploration of biblical salvation themes.

Discern: Some light vulgarity and innuendo, descriptions of female characters’ tight blouses, and hero’s anger issues. Some violence is lightly sketched or even campy.